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Epiphone vs Fender

#22
oboylebass said:
I own both Casady and Jazz basses. The Casady is definitely a 'specialty' bass; in other words, you can't really use it on every type of gig....especially loud rock stuff. It can feed back if you're not careful at high SPLs. It works great for mellow/acoustic duo/lighter fare gigs. It does sit kinda funny due to the strap button placement. But the sound is great and it's such a cool bass. I have flats on mine. Love it.
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I'd second this. I have a Casady as well as both a J and a P. It's a very cool bass, but definitely not a broadly 'generalist' instrument. Get one to try out if you can, but any of the typical fenders will probably be a more useful solution if you can only have one bass.

My opinion only, of course. :-)
 
#25
I have both a Jazz bass and a Jack Casady. They're both radically different from one another in terms of how they play, tone and electronics.

Try playing both and see how they feel to you physically. How does the neck shape work for your fretting hand? And are you okay with the bound edge of the body on a bass like the Jack Casady? Frankly, from a physicality standpoint I prefer the contours of the Jazz bass body for a long gig. It doesn't leave that big old crease in my forearm the way the Casady bass does.

The neck dive on the Casady can definitely be dealt with easily. I've got a strap that helps me deal with it on mine. I've heard other JC players tell me that changing to ultralite tuners solved that issue, too.

As for tone? You can coax a lot of tones out of a Jazz bass, and some of those are classic tones. But the varitone circuit on the Jack Casady is it's own animal. And it's pretty powerful. I've been surprised by the sounds my JC bass can put out.

It's really an apples & oranges kind of comparison because both instruments bring such different things to the table. If I had to choose between the two? I'd probably opt for the Jazz bass for the sake of comfort.
 
#27
Thanks very much all!
Trying them out is simply not a possibility except for the Squier VM which is 30 KMs down the road. The rest are scattered around Spain.
No one making a case for the ATK yet! I had an OLP Musicman a few years ago which had a a neck like a baseball bat, I am imagining that the ATK would be similar.
I am falling between the Fender Mexican jazz and the Squier VM jazz, so is the difference in quality worth the difference in price?

Fender Mexican 350€
Squier VM jazz 175€ now
 
#30
Well..... The Mexican Jazz and the Epi JC both sold on ebay for just over my sensible budget but still both very cheap, however I didn't bid on either bass because after speaking the to seller I was not happy about bidding, for instance,
Me "can you tell me if the holes in the pick guard are for a pickup cover and do they go all the way into the body?"
I Didn't know the bass had holes.........

Two hours after the auctions ended with successful bids, both basses were back up for auction by the same seller.
 
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#31
The second bass that I ever owned was Gibson Epiphone bass. It was also my first new bass that I ever bought too. I bought it at Guitar Center in either 89' or 90' ? And I think I only paid $200.00 for it new. Great bass for the money. Here is a picture of one like it.

95443028_1993-epiphone-gibson-accu-bass-custom-4-string-bass-.jpg

Gibsonbass.jpg
 
#33
SanDiegoHarry said:
my 2 cents (fwiw): While I dislike off-shored guitars/basses of any sort, the MIM Fenders can be pretty decent. I've never - and I do mean *never* - played a modern Epiphone that I thought was decent.
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Is that preference or actual issues with the Epiphones? Epi's tend to be offbeat and weird is you prefer a Fender-style instrument, but I have a couple (and have played several more) that are definitely decent. I agree that they aren't the same quality level as my MIM Mendel P, though.
 
#34
In the clear out the Les Paul now has a new home too. I am actually bass less right now(!).
The Les Paul is a great bass. I bought it a least second hand but it probably passed through many more than that, and it was a champ! Never had a single problem with it and could great a super bright hi-fi sound or deep dark almost muffled woody tone and everything in between.
 
#35
wvbass said:
Is that preference or actual issues with the Epiphones? Epi's tend to be offbeat and weird is you prefer a Fender-style instrument, but I have a couple (and have played several more) that are definitely decent. I agree that they aren't the same quality level as my MIM Mendel P, though.
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No, I knew that any Gibson design is... well, gibsonish - so I wasn't judging by that. My judged the instruments by 1) playability 2) build quality 3) tone. I have found epis to be just... well, not to my liking. MIM fenders have ranged from every bit as bad to pretty darned decent (I picked up a fellow at work's MIM J bass and it was WORLDS better than my old '77). I haven't picked up an epiphone in a few years though, primarily because I'm just not looking for an affordable gibson clone; If I want a T-Bird, I'm gonna save my money and buy me a freakin' T-bird. My guess is that build quality on these instruments varys pretty wildly, so go to GC and play a bunch to see which one is good. Instruments with build quality/consistency issues I'd never buy new on line. Heck, better yet - lots of guys buy these and "outgrow" them - so there are plenty older epis available used. Save some bucks!
 
#37
SanDiegoHarry said:
No, I knew that any Gibson design is... well, gibsonish - so I wasn't judging by that. My judged the instruments by 1) playability 2) build quality 3) tone. I have found epis to be just... well, not to my liking. MIM fenders have ranged from every bit as bad to pretty darned decent (I picked up a fellow at work's MIM J bass and it was WORLDS better than my old '77). I haven't picked up an epiphone in a few years though, primarily because I'm just not looking for an affordable gibson clone; If I want a T-Bird, I'm gonna save my money and buy me a freakin' T-bird. My guess is that build quality on these instruments varys pretty wildly, so go to GC and play a bunch to see which one is good. Instruments with build quality/consistency issues I'd never buy new on line. Heck, better yet - lots of guys buy these and "outgrow" them - so there are plenty older epis available used. Save some bucks!
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Actually build quality on Epi and Squier basses is very good these days. I had a Epi tbird Classic four that played better than any current gibson I had tried. The fit and finish was excellent. I currently have a Squier CV 60's p bass that plays better than many of the MIMs I I have played over the years. My Jack Casady bass is an excellent player. I agree many of the older Epi basses were lacking, including an older Casady I owned briefly which was really rough, but current basses have really upped their game. Descent consistent QC also.
 
#38
SanDiegoHarry said:
No, I knew that any Gibson design is... well, gibsonish - so I wasn't judging by that. My judged the instruments by 1) playability 2) build quality 3) tone. I have found epis to be just... well, not to my liking. MIM fenders have ranged from every bit as bad to pretty darned decent (I picked up a fellow at work's MIM J bass and it was WORLDS better than my old '77). I haven't picked up an epiphone in a few years though, primarily because I'm just not looking for an affordable gibson clone; If I want a T-Bird, I'm gonna save my money and buy me a freakin' T-bird. My guess is that build quality on these instruments varys pretty wildly, so go to GC and play a bunch to see which one is good. Instruments with build quality/consistency issues I'd never buy new on line. Heck, better yet - lots of guys buy these and "outgrow" them - so there are plenty older epis available used. Save some bucks!
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Good thoughts. I 100% can understand why Gibson-ish tone would not be to your liking. I think it sounds muffled compared to a good jazz bass, but it is definitely workable for me. As for saving your $$$ for a Gibson if you wanted a T-bird...well, that's a crapshoot. I have both. Fit and finish is problematic on both (Finish flaws on the Gibson; "waves" from over-sanding on the Epi), playability is about even, tone is similar, but IMO the Gibson has a little extra magic in it (probably psychological due to the price difference.)

My Mexican, Japanese, and US Fenders are all better fit-and-finish wise. Tone is subjective, and both the Epiphones and the Fenders work with the bands I work with.
 

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